Downlink feedback information signaling enhancements

ABSTRACT

Enhancements to downlink feedback information (DFI) signaling is disclosed. According to the disclosed aspects, indications of DFI presence in downlink control information (DCI) messaging are provided that limit any increase to DCI overhead for uplink grants. In a first aspect, DFI presence may be signaled using unused or disallowed DCI variable states for indication of DFI presence. In another aspect, a separate bit may be added to a DCI message for indicating DFI presence. Additional aspects include repurposing DCI fields which are specific to cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI)-based uplink grants, or may defining a new RNTI (e.g., DFI-RNTI) for indicating DFI presence. Further aspects may provide for radio resource control (RRC) signaling that configures which DCI variable state can be used to indicate DFI presence.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Indian Patent Application No.201941039482, entitled, “DFI SIGNALING ENHANCEMENTS,” filed on Sep. 30,2019, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wirelesscommunication systems, and more particularly, to downlink feedbackinformation (DFI) signaling enhancements.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging,broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple-accessnetworks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the availablenetwork resources. Such networks, which are usually multiple accessnetworks, support communications for multiple users by sharing theavailable network resources. One example of such a network is theUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is theradio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phonetechnology supported by the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project(3GPP). Examples of multiple-access network formats include CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks,Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)networks.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stationsor node Bs that can support communication for a number of userequipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via downlinkand uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communicationlink from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link)refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.

A base station may transmit data and control information on the downlinkto a UE and/or may receive data and control information on the uplinkfrom the UE. On the downlink, a transmission from the base station mayencounter interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stationsor from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink,a transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplinktransmissions of other UEs communicating with the neighbor base stationsor from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degradeperformance on both the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, thepossibilities of interference and congested networks grows with more UEsaccessing the long-range wireless communication networks and moreshort-range wireless systems being deployed in communities. Research anddevelopment continue to advance wireless technologies not only to meetthe growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance andenhance the user experience with mobile communications.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communicationincludes generating, by a base station, downlink feedback information(DFI) for communications with a user equipment (UE), preparing, by thebase station, a grant type downlink control information (DCI) messageincluding the DFI, indicating, by the base station, presence of the DFIin the grant type DCI message using an available DCI variable state froma plurality of DCI variable states available for the grant type DCImessage, and transmitting, by the base station, the grant type DCI withthe DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes generating, by a base station, DFI forcommunications with a UE, preparing, by the base station, a grant typeDCI message including the DFI, adding, by the base station, a DFIindicator to the grant type DCI message, and transmitting, by the basestation, the grant type DCI with the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes generating, by a base station, DFI forcommunications with a UE, preparing, by the base station, a grant typeDCI message including the DFI, wherein the grant type DCI message withthe DFI is defined by a DCI variable state configured for DFIindication, signaling, by the base station, a configuration message tothe UE identifying the DCI variable state configured for the DFIindication, and transmitting, by the base station, the grant type DCIwith the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, at a UE, a grant type DCI message,identifying, by the UE, a DCI variable state associated with indicatingpresence of a DFI within in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DCIvariable state is identified from a plurality of DCI variable statesavailable for the grant type DCI message, and transmitting, by the UE,uplink transmissions configured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, at a UE, a grant type DCI message,identifying, by the UE, a DFI indicator within in the grant type DCImessage, wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence of a DFI withinthe grant type DCI message, and transmitting, by the UE, uplinktransmissions configured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, at a UE, a grant type DCI message,receiving, by the UE, a configuration message from a serving basestation, wherein the configuration message identifies a DCI variablestate configured for indication of DFI presence, identifying, by the UE,the DCI variable state within in the grant type DCI message, wherein theDCI variable state identifies presence of a DFI within the grant typeDCI message, and transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissionsconfigured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for generating, by a base station,DFI for communications with a UE, means for preparing, by the basestation, a grant type DCI message including the DFI, means forindicating, by the base station, presence of the DFI in the grant typeDCI message using an available DCI variable state from a plurality ofDCI variable states available for the grant type DCI message, and meansfor transmitting, by the base station, the grant type DCI with the DFIto the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for generating, by a base station,DFI for communications with a UE, means for preparing, by the basestation, a grant type DCI message including the DFI, means for adding,by the base station, a DFI indicator to the grant type DCI message, andmeans for transmitting, by the base station, the grant type DCI with theDFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for generating, by a base station,DFI for communications with a UE, means for preparing, by the basestation, a grant type DCI message including the DFI, wherein the granttype DCI message with the DFI is defined by a DCI variable stateconfigured for DFI indication, means for signaling, by the base station,a configuration message to the UE identifying the DCI variable stateconfigured for the DFI indication, and means for transmitting, by thebase station, the grant type DCI with the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for receiving, at a UE, a granttype DCI message, means for identifying, by the UE, a DCI variable stateassociated with indicating presence of a DFI within in the grant typeDCI message, wherein the DCI variable state is identified from aplurality of DCI variable states available for the grant type DCImessage, and means for transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissionsconfigured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for receiving, at a UE, a granttype DCI message, means for identifying, by the UE, a DFI indicatorwithin in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DFI indicatoridentifies presence of a DFI within the grant type DCI message, andmeans for transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissions configuredaccording to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication includes means for receiving, at a UE, a granttype DCI message, means for receiving, by the UE, a configurationmessage from a serving base station, wherein the configuration messageidentifies a DCI variable state configured for indication of DFIpresence, means for identifying, by the UE, the DCI variable statewithin in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DCI variable stateidentifies presence of a DFI within the grant type DCI message, andmeans for transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissions configuredaccording to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to generate, by a base station, DFIfor communications with a UE, code to prepare, by the base station, agrant type DCI message including the DFI, code to indicate, by the basestation, presence of the DFI in the grant type DCI message using anavailable DCI variable state from a plurality of DCI variable statesavailable for the grant type DCI message, and code to transmit, by thebase station, the grant type DCI with the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to generate, by a base station, DFIfor communications with a UE, code to prepare, by the base station, agrant type DCI message including the DFI, code to add, by the basestation, a DFI indicator to the grant type DCI message, and code totransmit, by the base station, the grant type DCI with the DFI to theUE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to generate, by a base station, DFIfor communications with a UE, code to prepare, by the base station, agrant type DCI message including the DFI, wherein the grant type DCImessage with the DFI is defined by a DCI variable state configured forDFI indication, code to signal, by the base station, a configurationmessage to the UE identifying the DCI variable state configured for theDFI indication, and code to transmit, by the base station, the granttype DCI with the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCImessage, code to identify, by the UE, a DCI variable state associatedwith indicating presence of a DFI within in the grant type DCI message,wherein the DCI variable state is identified from a plurality of DCIvariable states available for the grant type DCI message, and code totransmit, by the UE, uplink transmissions configured according to theDFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCImessage, code to identify, by the UE, a DFI indicator within in thegrant type DCI message, wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence ofa DFI within the grant type DCI message, and code to transmit, by theUE, uplink transmissions configured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCImessage, code to receive, by the UE, a configuration message from aserving base station, wherein the configuration message identifies a DCIvariable state configured for indication of DFI presence, code toidentify, by the UE, the DCI variable state within in the grant type DCImessage, wherein the DCI variable state identifies presence of a DFIwithin the grant type DCI message, and code to transmit, by the UE,uplink transmissions configured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to generate, by a base station, DFI for communications with aUE, to prepare, by the base station, a grant type DCI message includingthe DFI, to indicate, by the base station, presence of the DFI in thegrant type DCI message using an available DCI variable state from aplurality of DCI variable states available for the grant type DCImessage, and to transmit, by the base station, the grant type DCI withthe DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to generate, by a base station, DFI for communications with aUE, to prepare, by the base station, a grant type DCI message includingthe DFI, to add, by the base station, a DFI indicator to the grant typeDCI message, and to transmit, by the base station, the grant type DCIwith the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to generate, by a base station, DFI for communications with aUE, to prepare, by the base station, a grant type DCI message includingthe DFI, wherein the grant type DCI message with the DFI is defined by aDCI variable state configured for DFI indication, to signal, by the basestation, a configuration message to the UE identifying the DCI variablestate configured for the DFI indication, and to transmit, by the basestation, the grant type DCI with the DFI to the UE.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCI message, to identify,by the UE, a DCI variable state associated with indicating presence of aDFI within in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DCI variable stateis identified from a plurality of DCI variable states available for thegrant type DCI message, and to transmit, by the UE, uplink transmissionsconfigured according to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCI message, to identify,by the UE, a DFI indicator within in the grant type DCI message, whereinthe DFI indicator identifies presence of a DFI within the grant type DCImessage, and to transmit, by the UE, uplink transmissions configuredaccording to the DFI.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, at a UE, a grant type DCI message, to receive, bythe UE, a configuration message from a serving base station, wherein theconfiguration message identifies a DCI variable state configured forindication of DF presence, to identify, by the UE, the DCI variablestate within in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DCI variablestate identifies presence of a DFI within the grant type DCI message,and to transmit, by the UE, uplink transmissions configured according tothe DFI.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of theconcepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method ofoperation, together with associated advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose ofillustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits ofthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentdisclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wirelesscommunication system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and aUE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating example blocks executedto implement aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of a NR-U networkhaving a base station and UE configured according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams illustrating example blocks executedto implement aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of a NR-U networkhaving a base station and UE configured according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of a NR-U networkhaving a base station and UE configured according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are block diagrams illustrating example blocks executedto implement aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of a NR-U networkhaving a base station and UE configured according to one aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 10A-10C are block diagrams illustrating a base station and UEconfigured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example base station 105configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example UE 115 configuredaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for thepurpose of providing a thorough understanding of the inventive subjectmatter. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thesespecific details are not required in every case and that, in someinstances, well-known structures and components are shown in blockdiagram form for clarity of presentation.

This disclosure relates generally to providing or participating inauthorized shared access between two or more wireless communicationssystems, also referred to as wireless communications networks. Invarious embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used forwireless communication networks such as code division multiple access(CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks,frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA(OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks,GSM networks, 5^(th) Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as wellas other communications networks. As described herein, the terms“networks” and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and thelike. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3^(rd) Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from anorganization named “3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2).These various radio technologies and standards are known or are beingdeveloped. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) isa collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for thenext generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wirelesstechnologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access towireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new anddifferent radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals,further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition todevelopment of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NRwill be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internetof things (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10 s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates),and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having acommon, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services andfeatures with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex(TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wirelesstechnologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO),robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding,and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR,with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operatingdiverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. Forexample, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz,for example over 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth. For othervarious outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHzbandwidth. For other various indoor wideband implementations, using aTDD over the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrierspacing may occur with 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, forvarious deployments transmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wirelesscommunications system 100 that supports the downlink feedbackinformation (DFI) signaling enhancements according to the variousaspects disclosed herein. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, and inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure, base station 105,under control of controller/processor 240, may execute DFI logic 301 andDFI presence signaling 302, stored in memory 242, and UE 115, undercontrol of controller/processor 280, may execute DFI logic 401 and DFIpresence signaling 402, stored in memory 282. The execution environmentof such features provides base station 105 and UE 115 to implement theenhanced DFI presence signaling according to the various aspects of thepresent disclosure. In a first aspect, DFI presence may be signaledusing unused or disallowed DCI variable states for indication of DFIpresence. In another aspect, a separate bit may be added to a DCImessage for indicating DFI presence. Additional aspects includerepurposing DCI fields which are specific to C-RNTI-based uplink grants,or defining a new RNTI (e.g., DFI-RNTI) for indicating DFI presence.Further aspects may provide for RRC signaling that configures which DCIvariable state can be used to indicate DFI presence.

The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, anLTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or NR network. Insome cases, wireless communications system 100 may support enhancedbroadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission critical)communications, low latency communications, or communications withlow-cost and low-complexity devices.

Base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with UEs 115 via one ormore base station antennas. Base stations 105 described herein mayinclude or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB orgiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. Wirelesscommunications system 100 may include base stations 105 of differenttypes (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UEs 115 describedherein may be able to communicate with various types of base stations105 and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs,relay base stations, and the like.

Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographiccoverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 issupported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage fora respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125,and communication links 125 between a base station 105 and a UE 115 mayutilize one or more carriers. Communication links 125 shown in wirelesscommunications system 100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115to a base station 105, or downlink transmissions from a base station 105to a UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forwardlink transmissions while uplink transmissions may also be referred to asreverse link transmissions.

The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be dividedinto sectors making up a portion of the geographic coverage area 110,and each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, each basestation 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a smallcell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or various combinationsthereof. In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and,therefore, provide communication coverage for a moving geographiccoverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies maybe supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, aheterogeneous LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro or NR network in which different typesof base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverageareas 110.

The term “cell” refers to a logical communication entity used forcommunication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier), and may beassociated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells(e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier(VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier. In some examples,a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may beconfigured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-typecommunication (MTC), narrowband Internet-of-things (NB-IoT), enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access fordifferent types of devices. In some cases, the term “cell” may refer toa portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over whichthe logical entity operates.

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communications system100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also bereferred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, ahandheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitableterminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, astation, a terminal, or a client. A UE 115 may also be a personalelectronic device such as a cellular phone (UE 115 a), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a wearable device (UE 115 d), a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer (UE 115 g), or a personal computer. In someexamples, a UE 115 may also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL)station, an Internet-of-things (IoT) device, an Internet-of-everything(IoE) device, an MTC device, or the like, which may be implemented invarious articles such as appliances, vehicles (UE 115 e and UE 115 f),meters (UE 115 b and UE 115 c), or the like.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices, and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay that information to acentral server or application program that can make use of theinformation or present the information to humans interacting with theprogram or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collectinformation or enable automated behavior of machines. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode thatsupports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but nottransmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples,half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate.Other power conservation techniques for UEs 115 include entering a powersaving “deep sleep” mode when not engaging in active communications, oroperating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowbandcommunications). In other cases, UEs 115 may be designed to supportcritical functions (e.g., mission critical functions), and a wirelesscommunications system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliablecommunications for these functions.

In certain cases, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device(D2D) protocol). One or more of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2Dcommunications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a basestation 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographiccoverage area 110 of a base station 105, or be otherwise unable toreceive transmissions from a base station 105. In some cases, groups ofUEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many(1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every other UE 115 in thegroup. In some cases, a base station 105 may facilitate the schedulingof resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communicationsmay be carried out between UEs 115 without the involvement of a basestation 105.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with oneanother. For example, base stations 105 may interface with the corenetwork 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, orother interface). Base stations 105 may communicate with one anotherover backhaul links 134 (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface) eitherdirectly (e.g., directly between base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g.,via core network 130).

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobilitymanagement entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and atleast one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may managenon-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility,authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by basestations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transferredthrough the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GWmay provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The P-GWmay be connected to the network operators IP services. The operators IPservices may include access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IPmultimedia subsystem (IMS), or a packet-switched (PS) streaming service.

At least some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, mayinclude subcomponents such as an access network entity, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entitymay communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other access networktransmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smartradio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP). In someconfigurations, various functions of each access network entity or basestation 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g.,radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into asingle network device (e.g., a base station 105).

Wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (M1 Hz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features. However, the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to UEs 115 locatedindoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter range (e.g., less than 100 km) compared totransmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the highfrequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrumbelow 300 MHz.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super highfrequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, alsoknown as the centimeter band. The SHF region includes bands such as the5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, which may be usedopportunistically by devices that may be capable of toleratinginterference from other users.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in an extremely highfrequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz),also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, wirelesscommunications system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW)communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, and EHF antennasof the respective devices may be even smaller and more closely spacedthan UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate use of antennaarrays within a UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissionsmay be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter rangethan SHF or UHF transmissions. Techniques disclosed herein may beemployed across transmissions that use one or more different frequencyregions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions maydiffer by country or regulating body.

Wireless communications system 100 may include operations by differentnetwork operating entities (e.g., network operators), in which eachnetwork operator may share spectrum. In some instances, a networkoperating entity may be configured to use an entirety of a designatedshared spectrum for at least a period of time before another networkoperating entity uses the entirety of the designated shared spectrum fora different period of time. Thus, in order to allow network operatingentities use of the full designated shared spectrum, and in order tomitigate interfering communications between the different networkoperating entities, certain resources (e.g., time) may be partitionedand allocated to the different network operating entities for certaintypes of communication.

For example, a network operating entity may be allocated certain timeresources reserved for exclusive communication by the network operatingentity using the entirety of the shared spectrum. The network operatingentity may also be allocated other time resources where the entity isgiven priority over other network operating entities to communicateusing the shared spectrum. These time resources, prioritized for use bythe network operating entity, may be utilized by other network operatingentities on an opportunistic basis if the prioritized network operatingentity does not utilize the resources. Additional time resources may beallocated for any network operator to use on an opportunistic basis.

Access to the shared spectrum and the arbitration of time resourcesamong different network operating entities may be centrally controlledby a separate entity, autonomously determined by a predefinedarbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactionsbetween wireless nodes of the network operators.

In various implementations, wireless communications system 100 may useboth licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. Forexample, wireless communications system 100 may employ license assistedaccess (LAA), LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NRtechnology in an unlicensed band (NR-U), such as the 5 GHz ISM band. Insome cases, UE 115 and base station 105 of the wireless communicationssystem 100 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band, whichmay include licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) frequencyspectrum. In an unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band, UEs 115 or base stations 105 may traditionallyperform a medium-sensing procedure to contend for access to thefrequency spectrum. For example, UE 115 or base station 105 may performa listen before talk (LBT) procedure such as a clear channel assessment(CCA) prior to communicating in order to determine whether the sharedchannel is available.

A CCA may include an energy detection procedure to determine whetherthere are any other active transmissions on the shared channel. Forexample, a device may infer that a change in a received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicates that a channel is occupied.Specifically, signal power that is concentrated in a certain bandwidthand exceeds a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wirelesstransmitter. A CCA also may include message detection of specificsequences that indicate use of the channel. For example, another devicemay transmit a specific preamble prior to transmitting a data sequence.In some cases, an LBT procedure may include a wireless node adjustingits own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on achannel and/or the acknowledge/negative-acknowledge (ACK/NACK) feedbackfor its own transmitted packets as a proxy for collisions.

In general, four categories of LBT procedure have been suggested forsensing a shared channel for signals that may indicate the channel isalready occupied. In a first category (CAT 1 LBT), no LBT or CCA isapplied to detect occupancy of the shared channel. A second category(CAT 2 LBT), which may also be referred to as an abbreviated LBT, asingle-shot LBT, or a 25-μs LBT, provides for the node to perform a CCAto detect energy above a predetermined threshold or detect a message orpreamble occupying the shared channel. The CAT 2 LBT performs the CCAwithout using a random back-off operation, which results in itsabbreviated length, relative to the next categories.

A third category (CAT 3 LBT) performs CCA to detect energy or messageson a shared channel, but also uses a random back-off and fixedcontention window. Therefore, when the node initiates the CAT 3 LBT, itperforms a first CCA to detect occupancy of the shared channel. If theshared channel is idle for the duration of the first CCA, the node mayproceed to transmit. However, if the first CCA detects a signaloccupying the shared channel, the node selects a random back-off basedon the fixed contention window size and performs an extended CCA. If theshared channel is detected to be idle during the extended CCA and therandom number has been decremented to 0, then the node may begintransmission on the shared channel. Otherwise, the node decrements therandom number and performs another extended CCA. The node would continueperforming extended CCA until the random number reaches 0. If the randomnumber reaches 0 without any of the extended CCAs detecting channeloccupancy, the node may then transmit on the shared channel. If at anyof the extended CCA, the node detects channel occupancy, the node mayre-select a new random back-off based on the fixed contention windowsize to begin the countdown again.

A fourth category (CAT 4 LBT), which may also be referred to as a fullLBT procedure, performs the CCA with energy or message detection using arandom back-off and variable contention window size. The sequence of CCAdetection proceeds similarly to the process of the CAT 3 LBT, exceptthat the contention window size is variable for the CAT 4 LBT procedure.

Use of a medium-sensing procedure to contend for access to an unlicensedshared spectrum may result in communication inefficiencies. This may beparticularly evident when multiple network operating entities (e.g.,network operators) are attempting to access a shared resource. Inwireless communications system 100, base stations 105 and UEs 115 may beoperated by the same or different network operating entities. In someexamples, an individual base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated bymore than one network operating entity. In other examples, each basestation 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operatingentity. Requiring each base station 105 and UE 115 of different networkoperating entities to contend for shared resources may result inincreased signaling overhead and communication latency.

In some cases, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrieraggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriersoperating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensedspectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions,peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing inunlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD),time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both.

In some examples, base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped withmultiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such astransmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) communications, or beamforming. For example, wirelesscommunications system 100 may use a transmission scheme between atransmitting device (e.g., a base station 105) and a receiving device(e.g., a UE 115), where the transmitting device is equipped withmultiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or moreantennas. MIMO communications may employ multipath signal propagation toincrease the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiplesignals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to asspatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, betransmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas ordifferent combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals maybe received by the receiving device via different antennas or differentcombinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referredto as a separate spatial stream, and may carry bits associated with thesame data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams.Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna portsused for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques includesingle-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) where multiple spatial layers are transmittedto the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) wheremultiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape orsteer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or receive beam) along aspatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device.Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated viaantenna elements of an antenna array such that signals propagating atparticular orientations with respect to an antenna array experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antennaelements may include a transmitting device or a receiving deviceapplying certain amplitude and phase offsets to signals carried via eachof the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustmentsassociated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by abeamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g.,with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device orreceiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

In one example, a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antennaarrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communicationswith a UE 115. For instance, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) maybe transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in differentdirections, which may include a signal being transmitted according todifferent beamforming weight sets associated with different directionsof transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be usedto identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, suchas a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and/orreception by the base station 105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particularreceiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a singlebeam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device,such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated withtransmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based atleast in in part on a signal that was transmitted in different beamdirections. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signalstransmitted by the base station 105 in different directions, and the UE115 may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal itreceived with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptablesignal quality. Although these techniques are described with referenceto signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station 105,a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multipletimes in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam directionfor subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115), or transmittinga signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to areceiving device).

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115, which may be an example of a mmWreceiving device) may try multiple receive beams when receiving varioussignals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. Forexample, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions byreceiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing receivedsignals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving accordingto different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals receivedat a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processingreceived signals according to different receive beamforming weight setsapplied to signals received at a plurality of antenna elements of anantenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” accordingto different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples areceiving device may use a single receive beam to receive along a singlebeam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receivebeam may be aligned in a beam direction determined based at least inpart on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g.,a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highestsignal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality based atleast in part on listening according to multiple beam directions).

In certain implementations, the antennas of a base station 105 or UE 115may be located within one or more antenna arrays, which may support MIMOoperations, or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or morebase station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antennaassembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, antennas or antennaarrays associated with a base station 105 may be located in diversegeographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array witha number of rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115.Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may supportvarious MIMO or beamforming operations.

In additional cases, UEs 115 and base stations 105 may supportretransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is receivedsuccessfully. HARQ feedback is one technique of increasing thelikelihood that data is received correctly over a communication link125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using acyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), andretransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improvethroughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g.,signal-to-noise conditions). In some cases, a wireless device maysupport same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provide HARQfeedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol inthe slot, while in other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback ina subsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

Time intervals in LTE or NR may be expressed in multiples of a basictime unit, which may, for example, refer to a sampling period ofT_(s)=1/30,720,000 seconds. Time intervals of a communications resourcemay be organized according to radio frames each having a duration of 10milliseconds (ms), where the frame period may be expressed asT_(f)=307,200 T_(s). The radio frames may be identified by a systemframe number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include 10subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a duration of1 ms. A subframe may be further divided into 2 slots each having aduration of 0.5 ms, and each slot may contain 6 or 7 modulation symbolperiods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended toeach symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period maycontain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe may be thesmallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100, andmay be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In othercases, a smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g.,in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) or in selected component carriersusing sTTIs).

In some wireless communications systems, a slot may further be dividedinto multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In someinstances, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the smallestunit of scheduling. Each symbol may vary in duration depending on thesubcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation, for example. Further,some wireless communications systems may implement slot aggregation inwhich multiple slots or mini-slots are aggregated together and used forcommunication between a UE 115 and a base station 105.

The term “carrier,” as may be used herein, refers to a set of radiofrequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structurefor supporting communications over a communication link 125. Forexample, a carrier of a communication link 125 may include a portion ofa radio frequency spectrum band that is operated according to physicallayer channels for a given radio access technology. Each physical layerchannel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling. Acarrier may be associated with a pre-defined frequency channel (e.g., anevolved universal mobile telecommunication system terrestrial radioaccess (E-UTRA) absolute radio frequency channel number (EARFCN)), andmay be positioned according to a channel raster for discovery by UEs115. Carriers may be downlink or uplink (e.g., in an FDD mode), or beconfigured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDDmode). In some examples, signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier maybe made up of multiple sub-carriers (e.g., using multi-carriermodulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM(DFT-S-OFDM)).

The organizational structure of the carriers may be different fordifferent radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR).For example, communications over a carrier may be organized according toTTIs or slots, each of which may include user data as well as controlinformation or signaling to support decoding the user data. A carriermay also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronizationsignals or system information, etc.) and control signaling thatcoordinates operation for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in acarrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisitionsignaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for othercarriers.

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM)techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, controlinformation transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributedbetween different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between acommon control region or common search space and one or more UE-specificcontrol regions or UE-specific search spaces).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radiofrequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may bereferred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be oneof a number of predetermined bandwidths for carriers of a particularradio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). Insome examples, each served UE 115 may be configured for operating overportions or all of the carrier bandwidth. In other examples, some UEs115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a predefined portion or range (e.g., set ofsubcarriers or RBs) within a carrier (e.g., “in-band” deployment of anarrowband protocol type).

In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may consist ofone symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and onesubcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inverselyrelated. The number of bits carried by each resource element may dependon the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme).Thus, the more resource elements that a UE 115 receives and the higherthe order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate may be forthe UE 115. In MIMO systems, a wireless communications resource mayrefer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrum resource, a timeresource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layers), and the use ofmultiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate forcommunications with a UE 115.

Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., base stations105 or UEs 115) may have a hardware configuration that supportscommunications over a particular carrier bandwidth, or may beconfigurable to support communications over one of a set of carrierbandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 mayinclude base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 that support simultaneouscommunications via carriers associated with more than one differentcarrier bandwidth.

Wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to ascarrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may beconfigured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or moreuplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregationconfiguration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD and TDDcomponent carriers.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize enhancedcomponent carriers (eCCs). An eCC may be characterized by one or morefeatures including wider carrier or frequency channel bandwidth, shortersymbol duration, shorter TTI duration, or modified control channelconfiguration. In certain instances, an eCC may be associated with acarrier aggregation configuration or a dual connectivity configuration(e.g., when multiple serving cells have a suboptimal or non-idealbackhaul link). An eCC may also be configured for use in unlicensedspectrum or shared spectrum (e.g., where more than one operator isallowed to use the spectrum, such as NR-shared spectrum (NR-SS)). An eCCcharacterized by wide carrier bandwidth may include one or more segmentsthat may be utilized by UEs 115 that are not capable of monitoring thewhole carrier bandwidth or are otherwise configured to use a limitedcarrier bandwidth (e.g., to conserve power).

In additional cases, an eCC may utilize a different symbol duration thanother component carriers, which may include use of a reduced symbolduration as compared with symbol durations of the other componentcarriers. A shorter symbol duration may be associated with increasedspacing between adjacent subcarriers. A device, such as a UE 115 or basestation 105, utilizing eCCs may transmit wideband signals (e.g.,according to frequency channel or carrier bandwidths of 20, 40, 60, 80MHz, etc.) at reduced symbol durations (e.g., 16.67 microseconds). A TTIin eCC may consist of one or multiple symbol periods. In some cases, theTTI duration (that is, the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may bevariable.

Wireless communications system 100 may be an NR system that may utilizeany combination of licensed, shared, and unlicensed spectrum bands,among others. The flexibility of eCC symbol duration and subcarrierspacing may allow for the use of eCC across multiple spectrums. In someexamples, NR shared spectrum may increase spectrum utilization andspectral efficiency, specifically through dynamic vertical (e.g., acrossthe frequency domain) and horizontal (e.g., across the time domain)sharing of resources.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station 105 and a UE115, which may be one of the base station and one of the UEs in FIG. 1.At base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from adata source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240.The control information may be for the PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH,EPDCCH, MPDCCH etc. The data may be for the PDSCH, etc. The transmitprocessor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data andcontrol information to obtain data symbols and control symbols,respectively. The transmit processor 220 may also generate referencesymbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal. Atransmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 mayperform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, thecontrol symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and mayprovide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 232 a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream(e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.Downlink signals from modulators 232 a through 232 t may be transmittedvia the antennas 234 a through 234 t, respectively.

At UE 115, the antennas 252 a through 252 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 105 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) 254 a through 254 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtainreceived symbols from all the demodulators 254 a through 254 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate,deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data forthe UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control informationto a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the PUSCH) from a data source 262 and controlinformation (e.g., for the PUCCH) from the controller/processor 280. Thetransmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for areference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may beprecoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed bythe modulators 254 a through 254 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), andtransmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplinksignals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 234, processedby the demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable,and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded dataand control information sent by the UE 115. The processor 238 mayprovide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded controlinformation to the controller/processor 240.

The controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at thebase station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller/processor240 and/or other processors and modules at the base station 105 mayperform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniquesdescribed herein. The controllers/processor 280 and/or other processorsand modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution ofthe functional blocks illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 5A, 5B, 8A, and 8B,and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memories242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 105and the UE 115, respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for datatransmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

NR-U standards have provided for a downlink feedback information (DFI)message which includes a context to configured grant (CG) resources.Each CG resource may include periodic uplink resources and may also beassociated with a set of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processidentities. CG resources may be activated or deactivated using radioresource control (RRC) signaling or via actual activation/deactivationmessages using a configured scheduling radio network temporaryidentifier (CS-RNTI)-based downlink control information (DCI) message.CS-RNTI may also be used for activation/deactivation of downlinksemi-persistent scheduling (SPS) (such as, periodic downlink resources).The DFI may indicate acknowledgement (ACK) or negative ACK (NACK) statusfor HARQ processes used for CG transmissions, so that CG retransmissionscan be controlled. The DFI can also indicate ACK/NACK status of otherHARQ process not associated with CG resources, which can be used forcontention window updates for CAT 4 LBT procedures. The DFI payload maybe transmitted using a downlink control information (DCI) message.

Discussions are on-going as to how presence of the DFI may be signaledin NR-U deployments. If presence of the DFI is indicated within one ofthe existing DCI variable states, blind decoding efforts by UEs may bereduced. For example, in license-assisted access (LAA) operations, theautonomous uplink (AUL) standards provide for a 1 bit field (within aDCI scheduling uplink or downlink) repurposed to indicate presence ofthe DFI. This bit was already present in uplink grants (e.g., cell RNTI(C-RNTI)- and AUL-RNTI-based grants). This particular bit differentiatesbetween uplink and downlink for C-RNTI-based grants. However, forAUL-RNTI-based grants, the bit was unused because AUL is limited to theuplink direction. Thus, the bit may be repurposed for indicating DFIpresence for AUL. In contrast, for NR operations, because CS-RNTI may beused for scheduling both downlink SPS and uplink CG, this bit should notalso be used for DFI indication. There have been suggestions to add anindependent bit within a grant to specifically indicate DFI presence.However, if such a bit were added, it would be added for all grant typeDCIs, which will waste considerable bit space within the DCI message.Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to indicating thepresence of DFI messaging without increasing DCI overhead for uplink ordownlink grants.

Both CG and SPS resources may be activated/deactivated using a DCI ifthe cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a corresponding DCI format isscrambled with a CS-RNTI, while the new data indicator (NDI) field isset to ‘0’. A UE may validate the DCI format for activation ordeactivation if all fields for the DCI format are set according to Table1 or Table 2, respectively. If validation is achieved, the UE considersthe information in the DCI format a valid activation or validrelease/deactivation of the CG/SPS resources. If the UE cannotsuccessfully validate the DCI, the UE may consider the DCI format ashaving been detected without a matching CRC.

TABLE 1 DCI format DCI format DCI format 0_0/0_1 1_0 1_1 HARQ processset to all ‘0’s set to all ‘0’s set to all ‘0’s number Redundancy set to‘00’ set to ‘00’ For the enabled version transport block: set to ‘00’

TABLE 2 DCI format 0_0 DCI format 1_0 HARQ process set to all ‘0’s setto all ‘0’s number Redundancy set to ‘00’ set to ‘00’ version Modulationset to all ‘1’s set to all ‘1’s and coding scheme Resource block set toall ‘1’s set to all ‘1’s assignment

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to base station 105 as illustrated inFIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating base station 105configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Basestation 105 includes the structure, hardware, and components asillustrated for base station 105 of FIG. 2. For example, base station105 includes controller/processor 240, which operates to execute logicor computer instructions stored in memory 242, as well as controllingthe components of base station 105 that provide the features andfunctionality of base station 105. Base station 105, under control ofcontroller/processor 240, transmits and receives signals via wirelessradios 1100 a-t and antennas 234 a-t. Wireless radios 1100 a-t includesvarious components and hardware, as illustrated in FIG. 2 for basestation 105, including modulator/demodulators 232 a-t, MIMO detector236, receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, and TX MIMOprocessor 230.

At block 300, a base station generates DFI for communications with a UE.A DFI may indicate the ACK/NACK status for both HARQ processes used forCG transmissions and HARQ processes used for non-CG transmissions.Therefore, the base station, such as base station 105, may receiveuplink transmissions from a UE, via antennas 234 a-t and wireless radios1100 a-t, and determine the ACK/NACK status for such transmissions.Under control of controller/processor 240, base station 105 executes DFIlogic 1101, stored in memory 242. The execution environment of DFI logic1101 provides base station 105 the functionality for handling DFIoperations. Within the execution environment of DFI logic 1101, basestation 105 assembles the DFI message for the UE using the ACK/NACKstatus.

At block 301, the base station prepares a grant type DCI messageincluding the DFI. Within the execution environment of DFI logic 1101,base station 105 uses a DCI message to carry the DFI. Base station 105elects to include the DFI in a grant type DCI, according to a DCI formatavailable for uplink or downlink grants. In preparing the grant typeDCI, base station 105, under control of controller/processor 240, mayexecute DCI alignment logic 1103. The execution environment of DCIalignment logic may ensure that the final DCI size of the grant type DCIwith the DFI payload does not exceed the expected DCI size of the granttype DCI. Alignment may include adding zero padding when the DFI payloadis small creating a DCI size smaller than the expected grant type DCIsize. In alternative scenarios where the DFI payload size causes the DCIsize of the grant type DCI to exceed the expected DCI size of the granttype DCI, alignment may include truncation of bits from the DCI or theDFI payload.

At block 302, the base station indicates presence of the DFI in thegrant type DCI message using an available DCI variable state from aplurality of DCI variable states available for the grant type DCImessage. In order to signal the UE that the grant type DCI includes theDFI, base station 105 may add indication that the DFI is present. Undercontrol of controller/processor 240, base station 105 executes DFIpresence signaling logic 1102. The execution environment of DFI presencesignaling logic 1102 provide the functionality to base station 105 foradding the indication to the grant type DCI that will allow the UE toknow that the DFI is present in the grant type DCI. In accordance withthe describe example aspect, base station 105 identifies a DCI variablestate that may be unused, disallowed, or repurposed from another set DCIstate to identify DFI presence in the grant type DCI.

At block 303, the base station transmits the grant type DCI with the DFIto the UE. Once base station 105 has generated the grant type DCImessage that includes the DFI payload and the DCI variable stateidentifying the presence of the DFI, it may transmit the grant type DCIto the UE via wireless radios 1100 a-t and antennas 234 a-t.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG.12 is a block diagram illustrating UE 115 configured according to oneaspect of the present disclosure. UE 115 includes the structure,hardware, and components as illustrated for UE 115 of FIG. 2. Forexample, UE 115 includes controller/processor 280, which operates toexecute logic or computer instructions stored in memory 282, as well ascontrolling the components of UE 115 that provide the features andfunctionality of UE 115. UE 115, under control of controller/processor280, transmits and receives signals via wireless radios 1200 a-r andantennas 252 a-r. Wireless radios 1200 a-r includes various componentsand hardware, as illustrated in FIG. 2 for UE 115, includingmodulator/demodulators 254 a-r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor258, transmit processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

At block 310, a UE receives a grant type DCI message. A UE, such as UE115, receives the grant type DCI message via antennas 252 a-r andwireless radios 1200 a-r. UE 115 may decode the signals received toreveal the grant type DCI message.

At block 311, the UE identifies a DCI variable state associated withindicating presence of a DFI within in the grant type DCI message,wherein the DCI variable state is identified from a plurality of DCIvariable states available for the grant type DCI message. Under controlof controller/processor 280, UE 115 executes DFI logic 1201 and DFIpresence signaling logic 1202, stored in memory 282. The executionenvironment of DFI logic 1201 and DFI presence signaling logic 1202provides UE 115 the functionality to conduct operations using the DFI.UE 115 knows to look for an indication within the grant type DCI thatmay indicate whether the DCI simply includes a grant (uplink ordownlink) or includes a DFI related to prior uplink transmissions (CGtransmissions or otherwise) transmitted by UE 115. Within the executionenvironment of DFI logic 1201 and DFI presence signaling logic 1202, UE115 reviews the grant type DCI and recognizes the DCI variable statethat indicates presence of the DFI. According to the described exampleaspect, the DCI variable state may represent an unused, disallowed, orrepurposed variable state that UE 115 will know is not signaling a validgrant or an activation/deactivation command.

At block 312, the UE transmits uplink transmissions configured accordingto the DFI. After identifying the DFI, UE 115 may use the ACK/NACKinformation to configure or adjust future uplink transmissions. As such,UE 115 uses the identified DFI and adjusts the uplink transmissionstransmitted via wireless radios 1200 a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

FIG. 4 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of NR-U network 40having base station 105 and UE 115 configured according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure. Base station 105 and UE 115 conductcommunications 400, in which base station 105 may transmit messages andsignaling to UE 115 and UE 115 may transmit messages and signaling tobase station 105. Configured grant (CG) resources may be configured forUE 115 to perform uplink transmissions without an explicit uplink grantfrom base station 105. The various aspects of the present disclosure mayapply when CG resources are configured and/or activated or when thereare no CG resources configured. In response to some signaling from UE115 within communications 400, base station 105 may generate DFIreflecting ACK/NACK information for CG or non-CG related HARQ processes,as the case may be. Base station 105 may include the DFI within DFI DCI401. UE 115, upon receipt of DFI DCI 401 may obtain the ACK/NACKinformation from the DFI and configure relevant uplink transmissions ofcommunications 402 further between UE 115 and base station 105.

It should be noted that formatting of DCI is controlled by the DCIformat selected for the DCI and the collection of variables in therelevant fields reserved for the DCI according to the DCI format. EachDCI format may have different designated fields and numbers of fieldsand may have a distinct size that may be different than the DCI size ofa different DCI format. As referenced above, with respect to Tables 1and 2, the values or uses of any individual DCI field in combination fora given DCI of a given DCI type may signify something to the UE. Thecollection of available fields and the values presented in those fieldsis referred to as the DCI variable state. For example, a DCI variablestate represented by the DCI field values reflected in Table 1 signifiesactivation of CG operations for the UE, while the DCI variable staterepresented by the DCI field values reflected in Table 2 signifiesdeactivation of the CG operations for the UE.

According to the illustrated aspect, an unused or disallowed DCIvariable state may be repurposed for indicating the presence of DFImessaging. DFI DCI 401 includes fields 0-n. Fields 0-n may includefields designated for a new data indicator (NDI), a HARQ process ID(HARQ ID), a redundancy version (RV), an modulation and coding scheme(MCS), and the like, depending on the DCI format. In one exampleimplementation, when DFI DCI 401 is a CS-RNTI-based DCI message, DFIpresence may be indicated using an NDI field set to ‘0.’ In such exampleimplementation, the repurposed variable states should ensure that thereare no conflicts with the DCI variable states that representactivation/deactivation cases. Specific examples for variable statesthat may not conflict with the activation/deactivation states for NDI=0include use of one of the un-utilized HARQ IDs (e.g., HARQ ID >0); useof different values of RV (e.g., non-zero values); or use of the leastsignificant bit (LSB) of one of the RV values or a HARQ ID set to ‘1,’which allows all bits apart from the NDI, the indicator of DCI format,and this LSB bit to be used for DFI payload. More generally, any one bitof the HARQ ID or RV field may be set to ‘1’ while rest of the bits ofthe field can be used for DFI payload. For the preceding set ofexamples, if another DCI field is used to indicate DFI presence, theHARQ ID and RV fields may not be used to send DFI payload, as suchlocations could conflict with the DCI variable states designated foractivation/deactivation commands. In such case, UE 115 may receive DFIDCI 401 and believe it represents an activation/deactivation commandinstead of an indication of DFI presence.

In an additional example DCI variable state, one of the predefinedspecial MCS values can be used for indicating DFI presence. A specialMCS is a set of MCS values which does not indicate transport block sizeand are used mainly for scheduling retransmissions. According to theexample aspect, such a special MCS may be repurposed in DFI DCI 401 forindicating DFI presence.

It should be noted that an NDI set to ‘0’ within a CS-RNTI-based DCImessage may be used for activation/deactivation, while the NDI set to‘1’ may be used for scheduling retransmissions. Further, activation DCIsmay use non-special MCS values, while the deactivation DCIs may use anall-zero MCS value, thus, the remaining MCS values can be used in theMCS field of DFI DCI 401 for indication of DFI presence.

In an additional example aspect, when DFI DCI 401 is a CS-RNTI-based DCImessages, DFI presence may be indicated with the DCI variable stateusing an NDI field set to ‘1.’ In such example implementations, thespecifically repurposed variable state may ensure that the DFIindication does not map to a valid retransmission grant (uplink ordownlink retransmission grant). Specific examples for DCI variablestates that may not conflict with the retransmission grant states forNDI=1 include use of a HARQ ID that is not assigned to CG operations;use of an invalid resource assignment value; within a DCI format 0_1,use of an uplink shared (UL-SCH) indicator set to ‘0’ and a CSI requestfield set to all-0 s. Additionally, the DCI variable state foridentifying DFI presence may map to a valid grant, but the grantcombination mapped to may be specifically disallowed. A further DCIvariable state for indicating DFI presence may include configuration ofthe codeblock group (CBG) transmission information to an all-0 sequence(which is not valid for a grant), or use of one of the non-special MCSvalues. Repurposing use of one of the non-special MCS values forindicating DFI presence may be available, as valid CS-RNTI-basedretransmission grants would typically use a special MCS value.

Based on the DCI variable state selected by base station 105 to indicateDFI present, among the remaining fields of DFI DCI 401, certain fieldsremain unused while other fields can be repurposed to send DFI payload.For example one or more of HARQ ID field, the NDI field, RV field, MCSfield, resource allocation (RA) field, or the like, may not be used forDFI payload depending on both the solution being proposed and the orderin which the DFI, activation, deactivation commands are detected. Forexample, if DFI is indicated using a DCI variable state including NDI=0and HARQ_ID=1, all other fields in DFI DCI 401 can be used to send DFIpayload. In a second example, if DFI is indicated using a DCI variablestate including NDI=0, HARQ_ID mod 2=1 (checking the least significantbit (LSB) of HARQ bit), then all other fields and remaining bits of HARQID field in DFI DCI 401 can be used to send DFI payload. In a thirdexample, if the DFI is indicated using a DCI variable state includingNDI=0, HARQ ID=0, MCS=some specific MCS, then base station 105 cannotuse the RV field of DFI DCI 401 for DFI payload as it could conflictwith valid activation/deactivation commands (e.g., RV=0 is used foractivation/deactivation).

The illustrated aspects of FIG. 4, in which base station 105 may selecta DCI variable state that uses select available fields of fields 1-n toindicate DFI presence, can also be extended to DFI DCI 401 being aC-RNTI-based DCI. For example, the configuration of available fieldsselected for the DCI variable state by base station 105 may map to aninvalid grant, such as using an invalid value of the bandwidth part(BWP) indicator or carrier indicator. In such example aspect, if UE 115were configured with 3 BWPs, then the BWP indicator indicating all 1 scan be used by base station 105 to indicate DFI presence. When UE 115would decode the BWP indicator of all 1s, it would assume the DFI waspresent in DFI DCI 401. However, note that if UE 115 is configured for 4BWPs, then base station 105 may not indicate the presence of DFI in thismanner.

In a second example aspect, where the channel access priority class(CAPC) and LBT category are not jointly coded, then base station 105 mayselect a DCI variable state that includes an invalid combination of CAPCand LBT category to indicate DFI presence. For example, base station 105may select a DCI variable state that includes a non-zero CAPC with a CAT2 LBT or no-LBT to indicate DFI presence. In a third example, basestation may select a DCI variable state that includes an invalid valueof the resource assignment field (time or frequency). In such exampleaspect, base station 105 may use a frequency allocation field thatpoints to resources outside of the configured BWP to indicate DFIpresence. Note that here as well if the value of the selectedcombination of fields 1-n for the DCI variable state is valid, then basestation 105 cannot use such a combination to indicate DFI presence. In afurther example aspect, base station 105 may use a DCI format 0_1 andselect a DCI variable state including the UL-SCH indicator of “0” andthe CSI request field of all 0 s to indicate DFI presence.

In another alternative aspect, base station 105 may provide for use of aDCI variable state which is valid but which may be specifically reservedfor indicating DFI presence. For example, the frequency allocation fieldof all 1s can be reserved for indicating presence of DFI. However,reserving such a field value for DFI presence indication invalidates theuse of the otherwise valid field (e.g., the all-1 frequency allocationfield) for an uplink grant.

As indicated above, each DCI format may have a different set ofparameter fields and may be of a different overall length than other DCIformats. In certain implementations, a particular combination of fieldsselected for the DCI variable state may apply across multiple DCIformats. Conversely, a particular combination of fields selected for theDCI variable state of one DCI format may not apply in a different DCIformat. In such scenario, base station 105 may select a differentcombination of parameter fields for the DCI variable state to indicateDFI presence depending on the DCI format indicated for DFI DCI 401.While some of the above examples indicate application to uplink DCIformats, the various aspects of the present disclosure may be usedequally with downlink DCI formats (e.g., Format 1_0 or 1_1). In suchalternative implementations, base station 105 would select thecombination of parameter fields for the DCI variable state to indicateDFI presence that avoid conflicting with downlink SPSactivation/deactivation/retransmission commands.

In an alternative aspect of the present disclosure illustrated in FIG.4, the available field, of fields 1-n of DFI DCI 401 selected by basestation 105 for the DCI variable state to indicate DFI presence may berepurposed DCI fields which are specific to C-RNTI-based grant type DCIs(uplink or downlink grants). It should be noted that C-RNTI-based granttype DCIs for NR-U may have fields/parameters which are not applicableto CS-RNTI-based grant type DCIs. In such circumstances, base station105 may select to use one of such C-RNTI fields to indicate presence ofDFI using a CS-RNTI-based grant type DCI. One example of suchunsupported fields between C-RNTI and CS-RNTI-based grant type DCIs isthe multi-TTI grant field, which represents a single DCI schedulingmultiple uplink grants. This multi-TTI grant field is not applicable toCS-RNTI. Thus, base station 105 may select a DCI variable state thatincludes any parameter which is specific to the multi-TTI grant field toindicate DFI presence.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to base station 105 as illustrated inFIG. 11.

At block 500, a base station generates DFI for communications with a UE.A base station, such as base station 105, may receive uplinktransmissions from a UE, via antennas 234 a-t and wireless radios 1100a-t, and determine the ACK/NACK status for such transmissions. Undercontrol of controller/processor 240, base station 105 executes DFI logic1101, stored in memory 242. The execution environment of DFI logic 1101provides base station 105 the functionality for handling DFI operations.Within the execution environment of DFI logic 1101, base station 105assembles the DFI message for the UE using the ACK/NACK status.

At block 501, the base station prepares a grant type DCI messageincluding the DFI. Within the execution environment of DFI logic 1101,base station 105 uses a DCI message to carry the DFI. Base station 105elects to include the DFI in a grant type DCI, according to a DCI formatavailable for uplink or downlink grants. In preparing the grant typeDCI, base station 105, under control of controller/processor 240, mayexecute DCI alignment logic 1103. The execution environment of DCIalignment logic may ensure that the final DCI size of the grant type DCIwith the DFI payload does not exceed the expected DCI size of the granttype DCI. Alignment may include adding zero padding when the DFI payloadis small creating a DCI size smaller than the expected grant type DCIsize. In alternative scenarios where the DFI payload size causes the DCIsize of the grant type DCI to exceed the expected DCI size of the granttype DCI, alignment may include truncation of bits from the DCI or theDFI payload.

At block 502, the base station adds a DFI indicator to the grant typeDCI message. In order to signal the UE that the grant type DCI includesthe DFI, base station 105 may add a DFI indicator that reveals thepresence of the DFI in the grant type DCI. Under control ofcontroller/processor 240, base station 105 executes DFI presencesignaling logic 1102. The execution environment of DFI presencesignaling logic 1102 provide the functionality to base station 105 foradding the DFI indication to the grant type DCI that will allow the UEto know that the DFI is present in the grant type DCI. In accordancewith the describe example aspect, base station 105 may identify a DFIbit included within the DCI or a DFI-RNTI that scrambles the grant typeDCI. The UE may then recognize either the DFI bit or that the grant typeDCI is DFI-RNTI-based and assume that the DFI is present in the granttype DCI.

At block 503, the base station transmits the grant type DCI with the DFIto the UE. Once base station 105 has generated the grant type DCImessage that includes the DFI payload and the DCI variable stateidentifying the presence of the DFI, it may transmit the grant type DCIto the UE via wireless radios 1100 a-t and antennas 234 a-t.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated in FIG. 12.

At block 510, a UE receives a grant type DCI message. A UE, such as UE115, receives the grant type DCI message via antennas 252 a-r andwireless radios 1200 a-r. UE 115 may decode the signals received toreveal the grant type DCI message.

At block 511, the UE identifies a DFI indicator within in the grant typeDCI message, wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence of a DFIwithin the grant type DCI message. Under control of controller/processor280, UE 115 executes DFI logic 1201 and DFI presence signaling logic1202, stored in memory 282. The execution environment of DFI logic 1201and DFI presence signaling logic 1202 provides UE 115 the functionalityto conduct operations using the DFI. UE 115 knows to look for anindication within the grant type DCI that may indicate whether the DCIsimply includes a grant (uplink or downlink) or includes a DFI relatedto prior uplink transmissions (CG transmissions or otherwise)transmitted by UE 115. Within the execution environment of DFI logic1201 and DFI presence signaling logic 1202, UE 115 reviews the granttype DCI and recognizes the DCI indicator that identifies the presenceof the DFI. In accordance with the describe example aspect, UE 115 mayrecognize either a DFI bit or that the grant type DCI is scrambled witha DFI-RNTI and assume that the DFI is present in the grant type DCI.

At block 512, the UE transmits uplink transmissions configured accordingto the DFI. After identifying the DFI, UE 115 may use the ACK/NACKinformation to configure or adjust future uplink transmissions. As such,UE 115 uses the identified DFI and adjusts the uplink transmissionstransmitted via wireless radios 1200 a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

FIG. 6 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of NR-U network 60having base station 105 and UE 115 configured according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure. Base station 105 and UE 115 conductcommunications 400, in which base station 105 may transmit messages andsignaling to UE 115 and UE 115 may transmit messages and signaling tobase station 105. As indicated previously, in response to some signalingfrom UE 115 within communications 400, base station 105 may generate DFIreflecting ACK/NACK information for CG or non-CG related HARQ processes,as the case may be. Base station 105 includes the DFI within DFI DCI600. UE 115, upon receipt of DFI DCI 600, may obtain the ACK/NACKinformation from the DFI and configure relevant uplink transmissions ofcommunications 602 further between UE 115 and base station 105.

According to the illustrated aspect, a separate bit, bit 601, may beadded within DFI DCI 600 for indicating DFI presence. Bit 601 willexplicitly inform whether the DFI is included in DFI DCI 600. In suchadditional aspect, the DCI format that includes bit 601 may beidentified to base station 105 in a fixed allocation, where extra bit,bit 601, is added only to a particular format (e.g., uplink format 0_1or downlink format 1_1). Alternatively, the placement of bit 601 can bedetermined based on RRC configuration information (e.g., RRCconfiguration can indicate which DCI format is used for DFI presenceindication). The additional bit, bit 601, may also be placed in aspecific search space by base station 105. This search space may also beindicated in a fixed allocation. For example, if DFI DCI 600 is anuplink format 0_1, bit 601 may be placed in a UE-specific search spacefor UE 115 (format 0_1 is not generally used for common search space).Alternatively, bit 601 can be placed in either a type 3 PDCCH commonsearch space set or a UE-specific search space for UE 115. Base station105 may further configure UE 115 to indicate the search space used forplacement of bit 601 (e.g. within the search space configuration).

In an additional aspect of the illustrated example, bit 601 can be addedfor CS-RNTI-based DCIs. When UE 115 receives DFI DCI 600 scrambled withCS-RNTI, UE 115 may assume that bit 601 for indicating DFI presence willbe available. However, if DFI DCI 600 is scrambled with C-RNTI, UE 115may assume that no bit is included for indicating DFI presence. Itshould be noted that where DFI DCI 600 is CS-RNTI-based, base station105 can additionally configure whether bit 601 for indicating DFIpresence within DCI via RRC signaling or a medium access control (MAC)control element (MAC CE).

FIG. 7 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of NR-U network 70having base station 105 and UE 115 configured according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure. Similar to environment described in FIG. 6, basestation 105 and UE 115 conduct communications 400, in which base station105 may transmit messages and signaling to UE 115 and UE 115 maytransmit messages and signaling to base station 105. In response to somesignaling from UE 115 within communications 400, base station 105 maygenerate DFI reflecting ACK/NACK information for CG or non-CG relatedHARQ processes, as the case may be. Base station 105 includes the DFIwithin DFI DCI 700. UE 115, upon receipt of DFI DCI 700, may obtain theACK/NACK information from the DFI and configure relevant uplinktransmissions of communications 702 further between UE 115 and basestation 105.

According to the illustrated aspect, base station 105 uses anewly-defined RNTI (e.g., DFI-RNTI) to indicate DFI presence. The newRNTI can be configured as UE-specific. Therefore, when UE 115 receivesDFI DCI 700 that has been scrambled using the new RNTI, DFI-RNTI 701, UE115 may assume that the DFI is present in DFI DCI 700. The illustratedaspect which uses the newly-defined RNTI can be used when CS-RNTI is notavailable, such as, when CG resources have not been configured. Forexample, base station 105 can use CS-RNTI to scramble DFI DCI 700 whenCG resources are configured, while it can use DFI-RNTI 701 when CGresources are not configured.

FIG. 8A is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to base station 105 as illustrated inFIG. 11.

At block 800, a base station generates DFI for communications with a UE.A base station, such as base station 105, may receive uplinktransmissions from a UE, via antennas 234 a-t and wireless radios 1100a-t, and determine the ACK/NACK status for such transmissions. Undercontrol of controller/processor 240, base station 105 executes DFI logic1101, stored in memory 242. The execution environment of DFI logic 1101provides base station 105 the functionality for handling DFI operations.Within the execution environment of DFI logic 1101, base station 105assembles the DFI message for the UE using the ACK/NACK status.

At block 801, the base station prepares a grant type DCI messageincluding the DFI, wherein the grant type DCI message with the DFI isdefined by a DCI variable state configured for DFI indication. Withinthe execution environment of DFI logic 1101, base station 105 uses a DCImessage to carry the DFI. Base station 105 elects to include the DFI ina grant type DCI, according to a DCI format available for uplink ordownlink grants. In preparing the grant type DCI, base station 105,under control of controller/processor 240, may execute DCI alignmentlogic 1103. The execution environment of DCI alignment logic may ensurethat the final DCI size of the grant type DCI with the DFI payload doesnot exceed the expected DCI size of the grant type DCI. Alignment mayinclude adding zero padding when the DFI payload is small creating a DCIsize smaller than the expected grant type DCI size. In alternativescenarios where the DFI payload size causes the DCI size of the granttype DCI to exceed the expected DCI size of the grant type DCI,alignment may include truncation of bits from the DCI or the DFIpayload.

At block 802, the base station signals a configuration message to the UEidentifying the DCI variable state configured for the DFI indication. Inorder to signal the UE that the grant type DCI includes the DFI, basestation 105 may signal a configuration message that reveals which DCIvariable state will indicate the presence of the DFI in the grant typeDCI. Under control of controller/processor 240, base station 105executes DFI presence signaling logic 1102. The execution environment ofDFI presence signaling logic 1102 provide the functionality to basestation 105 for communicating the configuration message that will allowthe UE to know that the DFI is present in the grant type DCI. Basestation transmits the configuration message via wireless radios 1100 a-tand antennas 234 a-t.

At block 803, the base station transmits the grant type DCI with the DFIto the UE. Once base station 105 has generated the grant type DCImessage that includes the DFI payload and the DCI variable stateidentifying the presence of the DFI, it may transmit the grant type DCIto the UE via wireless radios 1100 a-t and antennas 234 a-t.

FIG. 8B is a block diagram illustrating example aspects executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated in FIG. 12.

At block 810, a UE receives a grant type DCI message. A UE, such as UE115, receives the grant type DCI message via antennas 252 a-r andwireless radios 1200 a-r. UE 115 may decode the signals received toreveal the grant type DCI message.

At block 811, the UE receives a configuration message from a servingbase station, wherein the configuration message identifies a DCIvariable state configured for indication of DFI presence. Under controlof controller/processor 280, UE 115 executes DFI logic 1201 and DFIpresence signaling logic 1202, stored in memory 282. The executionenvironment of DFI logic 1201 and DFI presence signaling logic 1202provides UE 115 the functionality to conduct operations using the DFI.UE 115 knows that it will receive a configuration message thatidentifies the DCI variable state that will indicate the presence of aDFI within the grant type DCI.

At block 812, the UE identifies the DCI variable state within in thegrant type DCI message, wherein the DCI variable state identifiespresence of a DFI within the grant type DCI message. Within theexecution environment of DFI logic 1201, UE 115 uses the instructionsfrom the configuration message to look for the DCI variable state withinthe grant type DCI that indicates that the grant type DCI includes a DFIrelated to prior uplink transmissions (CG transmissions or otherwise)transmitted by UE 115.

At block 813, the UE transmits uplink transmissions configured accordingto the DFI. After identifying the DFI, UE 115 may use the ACK/NACKinformation to configure or adjust future uplink transmissions. As such,UE 115 uses the identified DFI and adjusts the uplink transmissionstransmitted via wireless radios 1200 a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

FIG. 9 is a call-flow diagram illustrating a portion of NR-U network 90having base station 105 and UE 115 configured according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure. Base station 105 and UE 115 conductcommunications 400, in which base station 105 may transmit messages andsignaling to UE 115 and UE 115 may transmit messages and signaling tobase station 105. In response to some signaling from UE 115 withincommunications 400, base station 105 may generate DFI reflectingACK/NACK information for CG or non-CG related HARQ processes, as thecase may be. Base station 105 includes the DFI within DFI DCI 901. UE115, upon receipt of DFI DCI 901, may obtain the ACK/NACK informationfrom the DFI and configure relevant uplink transmissions ofcommunications 902 further between UE 115 and base station 105.

According to the illustrated aspect, base station 105 sends RRCsignaling 900 to UE 115 to configure UE 115 to recognize which DCIvariable state can be used for DFI indication. For example, RRCsignaling 900 can indicate that a CS-RNTI-based DCI with DCI format 0_0and a HARQ ID=1, can be used for indicating DFI presence. Thus, uponreceipt of DFI DCI 901, UE 115 may recognize that DFI DCI 901 isscrambled using CS-RNTI in a DCI format 0_0 and a HARQ ID=1. With thisrecognition of the DCI variable state configured for indication of DFIpresence, UE 115 assumes that the DFI is present in DFI DCI 901. Itshould be noted that the illustrated aspect takes advantage of the factthat some DCI variable states are not usable depending on theconfiguration of the number of carriers or BWPs or other physical layerparameters of UE 115. Base station 105 may select one of such unusablestates for the DCI variable state and signal UE 115 that this DCIvariable state will be used for indicating DFI presence.

The payload of the DFI can contain a large number of bits (e.g.,ACK/NACK bits for all HARQ IDs, CBG-based feedback for a set of HARQIDs, NDI value for CG HARQ processes, etc.). With the given number ofDCI fields, it is possible that payload size of the DFI can exceed thepayload size of a grant-carrying DCI of the same DCI format. In oneexample, a given grant type DCI that includes a DFI and an indication ofits presence is configured as the same DCI type as a grant type DCI usedto schedule and grant (the grant and associated DCI type may be foruplink or downlink grants). In order to reduce or simply maintain theblind decoding effort of a UE, the DCI size of a grant type DCI with theDFI may be aligned with the DCI size of a grant type DCI with a grant.The process of alignment can be implemented using truncation or paddingof payload of either the DFI or the grant.

FIGS. 10A-10C are block diagrams illustrating a base station 105 and UE115 configured according to aspects of the present disclosure. Inconsidering alignment of the DCI sizes, it may be preferable nottruncate the DCI payload carrying the grant. As illustrated in FIG. 10A,the DCI size of DFI DCI 1001 is smaller than the DCI size for grant DCI1000, even though both DFI DCI 1001 and grant DCI 1000 are configuredwith the same DCI format. According to the illustrated example aspect,base station 105 may align the DCI size by adding zero-padding 1002 tothe DFI of DFI DCI 1001. Zero-padding 1002 to added to make the totalnew size of extended DFI DCI 1001 the same as grant DCI 1000.

As illustrated in FIG. 10B, the DCI size of DFI DCI 1003 is larger thanthe DCI size of grant DCI 1000. In such a scenario, the example aspectprovides for zero-padding 1002 to be added to grant DCI 1000 to create aDCI size equal to the DCI size of DFI DCI 1003. Alternatively, asillustrated in FIG. 10C, where the DCI size of DFI DCI 1003 is largerthan the DCI size of grant DCI 1000, bits are truncated from DFI DCI1003, truncation bits 1004, to make the result truncated DCI size of DFIDCI 1003 the same as the DCI size of grant DCI 1000. Truncating the bitsfrom DFI DCI 1003, as illustrated in FIG. 10C, may be more optimal as itreduces or maintains the number of different DCI sizes that UE 115 wouldbe monitoring.

When implementing truncation of DFI DCI 1003, various methods may beemployed to determine which bits should be included in truncation bits1004. The standards in NR Rel-15 would allow for base station 105 totruncate the frequency allocation field of any uplink grants in suchcases. However, a DFI may not always contain a frequency allocationfield. According to one example aspect, a truncation order of DFI fieldscan be defined from the lowest priority to the highest priority, suchthat the lower priority DFI fields are added first to truncation bits1004 before moving to the next higher priority DFI field. Lower prioritybits may be bits, such as ACK/NACK feedback bits associated with non-CGHARQ processes, CBG-based feedback, and NDI bit fields, while higherpriority bits can be bits, such as ACK/NACK feedback bits associatedwith CG HARQ processes. Different implementations of the presentlydescribed example aspect may provide for different priority hierarchies.For example, one priority hierarchy may be: ACK/NACK bits for CG HARQprocess >ACK/NACK bits for non-CG HARQ process >CBG based feedback >NDIbits; while a second priority hierarchy may be: ACK/NACK bits for CGHARQ process >CBG based feedback >ACK/NACK bits for non-CG HARQprocess >NDI bits. It should be noted that the fields for truncated bits1004 should be placed in the same position for DCI containing a grantand DCI containing DFI, otherwise, it may create confusion at UE 115 forDCI decoding.

In an optional aspect as illustrated in FIG. 10C, truncated bits 1004may be placed corresponding to the frequency allocation field in anormal grant type DCI. For example, if bits 4-10 in grant DCI 1000containing a grant are allocated for frequency allocation, thentruncation bits 1004, on DFI DCI 1003 should also be placed on bits4-10. The truncated bits 1004 in DFI DCI 1003 may either contain dummybits or may contain lower priority DFI payload.

Another optional aspect of the present disclosure is for base station105 to ensure that DFI payload does not increase the size limit of agrant type DCI. NDI bits are useful to include to enable DFIretransmission and avoid confusion between base station 105 and UE 115about the transport block for which retransmission is signaled. However,their presence is not mandatory. For example, base station 105 can choseto include them when the DFI payload size is small. In a first optionalimplementation, base station 105 may include NDI bits for all of theHARQ IDs. Otherwise, in a second optional implementation, base stationmay include NDI for a subset of HARQ IDs. It should be noted thatdetermining the NDIs for inclusion in the DFI payload may be RRCconfigured or may be determined implicitly by base station 105 (e.g.,the number of HARQ IDs such that it leads to no increase in DCI size).Additional optional implementations can be defined for ACK/NACK bits ofnon-CG HARQ processes and CBG feedback bits.

As indicated previously, DFI has been defined in the context of CGresources, but it may also contain information related to ACK/NACKstatus of non-CG HARQ processes. This type of DFI may be used forcontention window updates and, thus, may be useful independent of CGconfiguration. While the example above have been described withoutrespect to whether or not CG operations are configured and/or activated,the previously described aspects of the present disclosure may beapplied to scenarios where CG operations are configured or not. In afirst example aspect, the DFI can be transmitted associated with CGoperations. For example, a DFI can be sent if CG resources areconfigured. For the type of CG operation where the CG resources aredynamically activated or deactivated using DCI messaging, DFI can eitherbe sent as long as the CG operations are configured, independent ofactivation/deactivation, or be sent when the CG operations are bothconfigured and activated, such that UE 115 is in activated state forconfigured grant transmissions.

In an alternative aspect, if CS-RNTI is used for DFI signaling, thenbase station 105 can configure a CS-RNTI value for UE 115 withoutconfiguring CG resources. Thus, DFI may be sent and identified evenwithout CG operations. In a further alternative aspect, base station 105can use a different RNTI (e.g., DFI RNTI) to indicate DFI presence whenCG configuration is not available, but use CS-RNTI when CG configurationis available. Similarly, when CG configuration is not available, basestation 105 can use C-RNTI to indicate DFI presence. Again, when CGconfiguration is available, then base station 105 can transmit DFI usingCS-RNTI-based DCI.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

The functional blocks and modules in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 5A, 5B, 8A, and 8Bmay comprise processors, electronics devices, hardware devices,electronics components, logical circuits, memories, software codes,firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present disclosure. Skilled artisans will also readilyrecognize that the order or combination of components, methods, orinteractions that are described herein are merely examples and that thecomponents, methods, or interactions of the various aspects of thepresent disclosure may be combined or performed in ways other than thoseillustrated and described herein.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented in manydifferent ways, including methods, processes, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, apparatushaving one or more processors with configurations and instructions forperforming the described features and functionality, and the like. Afirst example aspect of the present disclosure configured for wirelesscommunication may include generating, by a base station, DFI forcommunications with a UE; preparing, by the base station, a grant typeDCI message including the DFI; adding, by the base station, a DFIindicator to the grant type DCI message; and transmitting, by the basestation, the grant type DCI with the DFI to the UE.

A second aspect, based on the first aspect, wherein the DFI indicatorincludes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCI message; or aDFI-RNTI by which the grant type DCI message with the DFI is scrambled.

A third aspect, based on the second aspect, wherein the DFI bitdifferentiates a payload of the grant type DCI message as one of: atransmission grant or the DFI.

A fourth aspect, based on the third aspect, wherein the DFI bit is addedto the grant type DCI message when a CS-RNTI is used for scrambling thegrant type DCI message with the DFI.

A fifth aspect, based on the third aspect, further including:identifying, by the base station, the DFI bit based on a DCI format ofthe grant type DCI message, wherein the DFI bit is associated with theDCI format according to one of: a fixed allocation of DFI bits to DCIformats or RRC configuration.

A sixth aspect, based on the third aspect, wherein the DFI bit is addedto the grant type DCI message in an identified search space, wherein theidentified search space is one of: fixed or configured by the basestation.

A seventh aspect, based on the third aspect, further including:determining, by the base station, a DCI size of the grant type DCImessage with the DFI; determining, by the base station, the DCI size issmaller than a size of a DCI message with a grant; adding, by the basestation, zero padding to payload of the DFI for the grant type DCImessage to equal the size.

An eighth aspect, based on the first aspect, further including:determining, by the base station, a DCI size of the grant type DCImessage with the DFI; in response to the DCI size being larger than asize of a DCI message with a grant, one of: adding, by the base station,zero padding to the DCI message with the grant to equal the DCI size; ortruncating, by the base station, the grant type DCI message with the DFIto equal the size.

A ninth aspect, based on the eighth aspect, wherein the truncatingincludes: identifying a priority relationship between each field of aplurality of fields designated for the grant type DCI with the DFI; andtruncating lower priority fields of the plurality of fields until thegrant type DCI message with the DFI is equal to the size.

A tenth aspect, based on the first aspect, wherein the generating theDFI includes:

projecting a DCI size of the grant type DCI with the DFI; and includingNDI bits in the DFI when the DCI size projected does not exceed a sizeof a DCI message with a grant.

An eleventh aspect, based on the tenth aspect, wherein the including theNDI bits includes one of: including the NDI bits for each HARQ IDassociated with the communications between the base station and the UE;or including the NDI bits for a subset of HARQ IDs of the each HARQ IDassociated with the communication between the base station and the UE.

A twelfth aspect, based on the eleventh aspect, wherein the includingthe NDI bits is one of: RRC configured; or determined implicitly by thebase station.

A thirteenth aspect, based on the first aspect, further including:configuring, by the base station, CG resources for CG transmissions bythe UE.

A fourteenth aspect, based on the thirteenth aspect, further including:signaling, by the base station, an activation message activating CGoperations.

A fifteenth aspect, based on the first aspect, further including:identifying, by the base station, that CG operations are not configured;generating, by the base station, a UE-specific RNTI associated with theUE, wherein the indicating includes indicating the presence of the DFIusing the available DCI variable state and the UE-specific RNTI.

A sixteenth aspect, based on the first aspect, further including:identifying, by the base station, that CG operations are not configured,wherein the indicating includes indicating the presence of the DFI usingthe available DCI variable state and C-RNTI.

A seventeenth aspect configured for wireless communication may includereceiving, at a UE, a grant type DCI message; identifying, by the UE, aDFI indicator within in the grant type DCI message, wherein the DFIindicator identifies presence of a DFI within the grant type DCImessage; and transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissions configuredaccording to the DFI.

An eighteenth aspect, based on the seventeenth aspect, wherein the DFIindicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-RNTI by which the grant type DCI message with the DFIis scrambled.

A nineteenth aspect, based on the eighteenth aspect, wherein the DFI bitdifferentiates a payload of the grant type DCI message as one of: atransmission grant or the DFI, and wherein the grant type DCI messagewith the DFI bit is scrambled by a CS-RNTI.

A twentieth aspect configured for wireless communication, includes anapparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled tothe at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to generate, by a base station, DFI for communications with aUE; to prepare, by the base station, a grant type DCI message includingthe DFI; to add, by the base station, a DFI indicator to the grant typeDCI message; and to transmit, by the base station, the grant type DCIwith the DFI to the UE.

A twenty-first aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, wherein the DFIindicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-RNTI by which the grant type DCI message with the DFIis scrambled.

A twenty-second aspect, based on the twenty-first aspect, furtherincluding configuration of the at least one processor to identify, bythe base station, the DFI bit based on a DCI format of the grant typeDCI message, wherein the DFI bit is associated with the DCI formataccording to one of: a fixed allocation of DFI bits to DCI formats orRRC configuration, and wherein the DFI bit is added to the grant typeDCI message when a CS-RNTI is used for scrambling the grant type DCImessage with the DFI.

A twenty-third aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, further includingconfiguration of the at least one processor: to determine, by the basestation, a DCI size of the grant type DCI message with the DFI; todetermine, by the base station, the DCI size is smaller than a size of aDCI message with a grant; to add, by the base station, zero padding topayload of the DFI for the grant type DCI message to equal the size.

A twenty-fourth aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, further includingconfiguration of the at least one processor: to determine, by the basestation, a DCI size of the grant type DCI message with the DFI; inresponse to the DCI size being larger than a size of a DCI message witha grant, to one of: add, by the base station, zero padding to the DCImessage with the grant to equal the DCI size; or truncate, by the basestation, the grant type DCI message with the DFI to equal the size.

A twenty-fifth aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one processor to generate the DFI includesconfiguration of the at least one processor: to project a DCI size ofthe grant type DCI with the DFI; and to include NDI bits in the DFI whenthe DCI size projected does not exceed a size of a DCI message with agrant.

A twenty-sixth aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, further includingconfiguration of the at least one processor to configure, by the basestation, CG resources for CG transmissions by the UE.

A twenty-seventh aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, furtherincluding configuration of the at least one processor: to identify, bythe base station, that CG operations are not configured; to generate, bythe base station, a UE-specific RNTI associated with the UE, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one processor to indicate includesconfiguration of the at least one processor to indicate the presence ofthe DFI using the available DCI variable state and the UE-specific RNTI.

A twenty-eighth aspect, based on the twentieth aspect, further includingconfiguration of the at least one processor to identify, by the basestation, that CG operations are not configured, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one processor to indicate includesconfiguration of the at least one processor to indicate the presence ofthe DFI using the available DCI variable state and C-RNTI.

A twenty-ninth aspect of the present disclosure configured for wirelesscommunication, includes an apparatus that includes at least oneprocessor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, whereinthe at least one processor is configured: to receive, at a UE, a granttype DCI message; to identify, by the UE, a DFI indicator within in thegrant type DCI message, wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence ofa DFI within the grant type DCI message; and to transmit, by the UE,uplink transmissions configured according to the DFI.

A thirtieth aspect, based on the twenty-ninth aspect, wherein the DFIindicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-RNTI by which the grant type DCI message with the DFIis scrambled.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another.Computer-readable storage media may be any available media that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can compriseRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that canbe used to carry or store desired program code means in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose orspecial-purpose processor. Also, a connection may be properly termed acomputer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmittedfrom a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable,fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), thenthe coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL, are includedin the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includescompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or,” when used ina list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items canbe employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listeditems can be employed. For example, if a composition is described ascontaining components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain Aalone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination;B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as usedherein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of itemsprefaced by “at least one of” indicates a disjunctive list such that,for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C orAB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any of these in anycombination thereof.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited tothe examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:generating, by a base station, downlink feedback information (DFI) forcommunications with a user equipment (UE); preparing, by the basestation, a grant type downlink control information (DCI) messageincluding the DFI; adding, by the base station, a DFI indicator to thegrant type DCI message; and transmitting, by the base station, the granttype DCI with the DFI to the UE.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theDFI indicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-specific radio network temporary identifier (DFI-RNTI)by which the grant type DCI message with the DFI is scrambled.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the DFI bit differentiates a payload of thegrant type DCI message as one of: a transmission grant or the DFI. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the DFI bit is added to the grant typeDCI message when a configured scheduling-radio network temporaryidentifier (CS-RNTI) is used for scrambling the grant type DCI messagewith the DFI.
 5. The method of claim 3, further including: identifying,by the base station, the DFI bit based on a DCI format of the grant typeDCI message, wherein the DFI bit is associated with the DCI formataccording to one of: a fixed allocation of DFI bits to DCI formats orradio resource control (RRC) configuration.
 6. The method of claim 3,wherein the DFI bit is added to the grant type DCI message in anidentified search space, wherein the identified search space is one of:fixed or configured by the base station.
 7. The method of claim 1,further including: determining, by the base station, a DCI size of thegrant type DCI message with the DFI; determining, by the base station,the DCI size is smaller than a size of a DCI message with a grant;adding, by the base station, zero padding to payload of the DFI for thegrant type DCI message to equal the size.
 8. The method of claim 1,further including: determining, by the base station, a DCI size of thegrant type DCI message with the DFI; in response to the DCI size beinglarger than a size of a DCI message with a grant, one of: adding, by thebase station, zero padding to the DCI message with the grant to equalthe DCI size; or truncating, by the base station, the grant type DCImessage with the DFI to equal the size.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the truncating includes: identifying a priority relationshipbetween each field of a plurality of fields designated for the granttype DCI with the DFI; and truncating lower priority fields of theplurality of fields until the grant type DCI message with the DFI isequal to the size.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating theDFI includes: projecting a DCI size of the grant type DCI with the DFI;and including new data indicator (NDI) bits in the DFI when the DCI sizeprojected does not exceed a size of a DCI message with a grant.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the including the NDI bits includes one of:including the NDI bits for each hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)identifier (HARQ ID) associated with the communications between the basestation and the UE; or including the NDI bits for a subset of HARQ IDsof the each HARQ ID associated with the communication between the basestation and the UE.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the includingthe NDI bits is one of: radio resource control (RRC) configured; ordetermined implicitly by the base station.
 13. The method of claim 1,further including: configuring, by the base station, configured grant(CG) resources for CG transmissions by the UE.
 14. The method of claim13, further including: signaling, by the base station, an activationmessage activating CG operations.
 15. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding: identifying, by the base station, that configured grant (CG)operations are not configured; generating, by the base station, aUE-specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated withthe UE, wherein the indicating includes indicating the presence of theDFI using the available DCI variable state and the UE-specific RNTI. 16.The method of claim 1, further including: identifying, by the basestation, that configured grant (CG) operations are not configured,wherein the indicating includes indicating the presence of the DFI usingthe available DCI variable state and cell-radio network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI).
 17. A method of wireless communication, comprising:receiving, at a user equipment (UE), a grant type downlink controlinformation (DCI) message; identifying, by the UE, a downlink feedbackinformation (DFI) indicator within in the grant type DCI message,wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence of a DFI within the granttype DCI message; and transmitting, by the UE, uplink transmissionsconfigured according to the DFI.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein theDFI indicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-specific radio network temporary identifier (DFI-RNTI)by which the grant type DCI message with the DFI is scrambled.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the DFI bit differentiates a payload of thegrant type DCI message as one of: a transmission grant or the DFI, andwherein the grant type DCI message with the DFI bit is scrambled by aconfigured scheduling-radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI). 20.An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatuscomprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at leastone processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured: togenerate, by a base station, downlink feedback information (DFI) forcommunications with a user equipment (UE); to prepare, by the basestation, a grant type downlink control information (DCI) messageincluding the DFI; to add, by the base station, a DFI indicator to thegrant type DCI message; and to transmit, by the base station, the granttype DCI with the DFI to the UE.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, whereinthe DFI indicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-specific radio network temporary identifier (DFI-RNTI)by which the grant type DCI message with the DFI is scrambled.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 21, further including configuration of the at leastone processor to identify, by the base station, the DFI bit based on aDCI format of the grant type DCI message, wherein the DFI bit isassociated with the DCI format according to one of: a fixed allocationof DFI bits to DCI formats or radio resource control (RRC)configuration, and wherein the DFI bit is added to the grant type DCImessage when a configured scheduling-radio network temporary identifier(CS-RNTI) is used for scrambling the grant type DCI message with theDFI.
 23. The apparatus of claim 20, further including configuration ofthe at least one processor: to determine, by the base station, a DCIsize of the grant type DCI message with the DFI; to determine, by thebase station, the DCI size is smaller than a size of a DCI message witha grant; to add, by the base station, zero padding to payload of the DFIfor the grant type DCI message to equal the size.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 20, further including configuration of the at least one processor:to determine, by the base station, a DCI size of the grant type DCImessage with the DFI; in response to the DCI size being larger than asize of a DCI message with a grant, to one of: add, by the base station,zero padding to the DCI message with the grant to equal the DCI size; ortruncate, by the base station, the grant type DCI message with the DFIto equal the size.
 25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one processor to generate the DFI includesconfiguration of the at least one processor: to project a DCI size ofthe grant type DCI with the DFI; and to include new data indicator (NDI)bits in the DFI when the DCI size projected does not exceed a size of aDCI message with a grant.
 26. The apparatus of claim 20, furtherincluding configuration of the at least one processor to configure, bythe base station, configured grant (CG) resources for CG transmissionsby the UE.
 27. The apparatus of claim 20, further includingconfiguration of the at least one processor: to identify, by the basestation, that configured grant (CG) operations are not configured; togenerate, by the base station, a UE-specific radio network temporaryidentifier (RNTI) associated with the UE, wherein the configuration ofthe at least one processor to indicate includes configuration of the atleast one processor to indicate the presence of the DFI using theavailable DCI variable state and the UE-specific RNTI.
 28. The apparatusof claim 20, further including configuration of the at least oneprocessor to identify, by the base station, that configured grant (CG)operations are not configured, wherein the configuration of the at leastone processor to indicate includes configuration of the at least oneprocessor to indicate the presence of the DFI using the available DCIvariable state and cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). 29.An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatuscomprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at leastone processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured: toreceive, at a user equipment (UE), a grant type downlink controlinformation (DCI) message; to identify, by the UE, a downlink feedbackinformation (DFI) indicator within in the grant type DCI message,wherein the DFI indicator identifies presence of a DFI within the granttype DCI message; and to transmit, by the UE, uplink transmissionsconfigured according to the DFI.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, whereinthe DFI indicator includes one of: a DFI bit added to the grant type DCImessage; or a DFI-specific radio network temporary identifier (DFI-RNTI)by which the grant type DCI message with the DFI is scrambled.